(Bloomberg) -- Credit cracks are widening ahead of a potential recession, possibly putting more BBB rated companies at risk for rating downgrades, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. 

Already, $500 billion of BBB rated bonds — including those of Amgen Inc., Boeing Co. and Rogers Communications Inc. — stand at risk of downgrade, Bloomberg Intelligence analysts Joel Levington and Stephen Flynn wrote Wednesday in a note to clients. But as profit and cash flow metrics have eroded further across most rating classes, the list has a potential to grow, the analysts said. 

“Although less than 10% of the tier’s bonds are exposed to cuts, that may change, with margins being about 80 basis points below their trend and interest cover declining for two consecutive reviews,” the analysts wrote in the note. “Within the subset, $54 billion of BBB- rated bonds have at least one negative outlook, including issues from Conagra and Fresenius Medical Care.”

Boeing and Rogers didn’t immediately respond to a request for a comment while Amgen declined to comment.

To be sure, leverage ratios held even or were modestly stronger than long-term averages, Levington and Flynn wrote in the twice-a-year study of 90 widely used data points for more than 1,400 global issuers. The strategists mentioned Amazon.com Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. as higher-risk outliers among high-grade peers.

Representatives for Amazon and Meta didn’t immediately reply to requests for comment. 

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